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ALGU8T 29, 1912. 



The Florists^ Review 



13 



Pillow of White Carnations, Lilies and Sprengeri. 



church or to cemetery, we make a net 

 charge of whatever we consider it 

 worth, according to a schedule of our 

 own, and give the undertaker no dis- 

 count. We consider it professional 

 services rendered to him, he having 

 charge of the funeral, and he can con- 

 sider it as one of the expense items. 

 Although it may look like it, I have 

 not written this article to defend the 

 undertaker or his twenty per cent, but 

 to present for consideration the points 

 which occurred to me when I began 

 to look around to see what we florists 

 were getting for the twenty per cent 

 which it seemed the undertaker was 

 getting with so little effort. The fact 

 is, the undertakers are a pretty good 

 Ininch of fellows, and with the doctors 

 and florists they make an aggregation 

 that would be sadly missed if removed 

 from any community. 



W. H. Calp. 



THE PILLOW. 



N^ext to the wreath, the pillow is the 

 most frequently callecf for design the 

 tlorist makes on a wire frame. The ac- 

 companying illustration is a particu- 

 larly good pillow. It lacks the solid 

 regularity that usually is the principal 

 •haracteristic of the design. The pillow 

 ought either to be solid and smooth, 

 with nothing more than a spray of the 

 finest flowers thrown across it, or else 

 't should be made with the flowers on 

 ^sufficiently long stems so that a soft 

 effect will be produced. Naturally, 

 when this is done, the design must first 

 be filled solidly to afford the proper 

 background. The space for the inscrip- 

 tion which almost always is required 

 should be no larger than necessary. 



BE FIRST IN YOUE TOWN. 



Not in Talking, But in Doing. 



One of the cheapest and one of the 

 most useless short cuts to local noto- 

 riety is knocking the town in which you 

 are getting your living, constantly talk- 

 ing up the many good things you have 

 done or seen done in this, that or the 

 other big city, and comparing them 

 disparagingly with what you and your 

 competitors are doing. 



We must always take our hats off 

 to the clever retailers in the large 

 cities. By their progressive ideas and 

 spirited methods of advertising, buying 

 and boosting, they make money for 

 themselves, for their growers and, by 

 force of example, for their brother re- 

 tailers in small towns. But the man 

 who is content to talk of these and not 

 to strive to emulate the best he has 

 seen or heard of, is not the one to get 

 far ahead. Be first in your town, not 

 in talking, but in doing — in showing 

 your customers that you have ideas a 

 little above the common ruck and that 

 you can carry out these ideas for their 

 benefit. 



Advertising, Good and Bad. 



Just a word as regards local adver- 

 tising: Why so many retail florists 

 neglect this great aid to business, it is 

 difficult to say. Printers' ink, made 

 to talk and not simply to fill up space, 

 is a valuable asset to any business 

 man, and to none more than the retail 

 florist. But the time for the ad that 

 runs, "John Jones, florist and deco- 

 rator; flowers for funerals, weddings 

 and all social events," or something 



along that line, is gone and a man who 

 spends money in that way is either 

 careless or a dead one. Everj'one 

 knows that a florist handles flowers. 

 Don't waste people's time by telling 

 them that. Rather tell them that you 

 put up the best wreath for $2 or $o 

 that can be purchased in your town 

 for that amount, or note some special 

 line of flowers on which you are long 

 and can make some tempting price. 



"Flowers will be cheap for the rest 

 of the week; see our display," is a line 

 that brought a crowd of customers to 

 a live retailer at a time when business 

 was dull. ' ' Flowers for all occasions, ' ' 

 or "Funeral wreaths a specialty," 

 would not have touched the spot like 

 the simple and direct story told in the 

 foregoing few words. 



The Dollar Box of Flowers. 



A leader like the dollar box of flow- 

 ers all the year around, which was 

 started by a well k«ewn retailer and 

 copied in many places all over the 

 country, is a big drawing card at all 

 times. Yet failure and all it implies 

 has been foretold time and again by the 

 croaking brotherhood for the men who 

 thus offer their customers the best the 

 market affords at a reasonable price. 

 Tn times of plenty this dollar box shows 

 a good profit and clears out a lot of 

 stock. At other times the profit may 

 not be so large, but it is advertising 

 of the most practical character. 



Tn short, the offering of flowers at a 

 reasonable rate stimulates demand and 

 creates a larger flower-buying public 

 everywhere. Thus the retailer reaps 

 an immediate benefit, while that accru- 

 ing to the grower is just as important. 

 The man w^o is first in his own town 



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